174 Home coming

 Returning to Chenxi took longer than Madam Min had expected, but the sheer logistics of moving everyone, especially the children who insisted on running around, all excitedly, as well as all the reclaimed goods, required several journeys and controlled logistics.

She had stayed behind until everything was cleared, ticking it all off her sheet as they went. Taking one final look around, she saw a little girl clutching a blanket, huddled under a tree.

"Why are you still here, little one?"

"I'm scared Auntie. What if the bad men are still there. What of they want to hurt me again?"

Min's heart lurched as she looked into the little girl's face. She was another who had seen and experienced too much. "They are all gone now." she cooed, "the nice soldiers have sent them all away and now we've been told we can go back."

"Are you sure Auntie?" Her eyes were filled with fear and tears spilled down her face.

Min took her in her arms and cuddled her, "I'm sure. Look Commander Chen has taken his wife back, so if he says it's alright for her, then it's okay for us." She scooped her up and holding her close to her chest, climbed onto the cart.

Niao reached Tangun. She had swam across the narrowest part of the river, just to the south of Tangun itself. She knew this was not the best place to be, but from what she could see, there was good cover at the water's edge. Lifting herself slowly out of the water, she heard voices. Mu soldiers were casually moving towards the capital, their chatter, giving nothing away. 

"Watering Hole first?"

"Yeh. And then onto the women. We might strike lucky and be allowed to move into the  Pleasure Palace."

There were sounds only men made when their ardor was up and their drinking heads were on. Niao decided they weren't worth the trouble and slipped back into the water, to swim, silently, further up river. She came to a spot just shy of the warfs and pulled herself out and onto the bank. There were prison wagons there, one's similar to that one she and Xin had rescued the women from.

'So this is where they go.' She looked around and noticed a warehouse with a fine padlock firmly locked in place. 'Even more interesting. If it requires this level of protection, the goods much be worth money.' Walking around the side of the building she noted a small window near the roof line. Looking around she found a useful way up, and like a cat, lept from building to roof, to building to roof, until she was in line with the window. It was open, but not by much. Bars covered the opening; they didn't want anyone to get inside. She smiled. 'There's always a way and its never the front door.'

Peering inside she had a partial view of cages and inside those cages, sat women, children and some men. They were silent. Some were bleeding from old wounds. They had clearly been assaulted. 

Niao bristled. A low growl came from her chest. To anyone listening it would have sounded like a wild cat; a very large and angry wild cat.

Soundlessly, she jumped up onto the roof, and removing some of the tiles, she created a hole through which she had a clear view. Sitting in one corner was a man. He had fallen asleep, drool seeping from his mouth. In his hands he held a metal rod and a half sword. 'Oh, silly boy, didn't you know Mama was coming to pay a visit?'

She slid the tiles back in place and moved to the point at which she would be directly above him. Removing the tiles as silently as she could, she created a gap just big enough.

With that, she stood up, and dropped down into the warehouse. Before he even registered her presence, his throat was already bleeding from the cut she had gifted him as she landed.

The prisoners were startled by her appearance. She was soaking wet from her swim and wore basic skins; a truly wild woman.

"Where does he keep the keys?" She asked, looking directly at the people in the cages.

Most shrank back with shock. It was either her appearance, her suddenly appearing, or the casual way she had slaughtered the guard.

"I'll ask again, if you want to get out of here, where is the key!!" 

A small girl in one of the front cages pointed to a drawer in the desk. Niao pulled it open and in there a bundle of keys sat next to a ledger. She grabbed the ledger and threw the keys to the people in the cages. "Get yourselves unlocked and I will find a way to get you out of here." Turning, she leaped up onto the table and swinging herself upwards, and left through the hole she had arrived.

Running around to the back wall, Niao studied the wood. It was old and possibly rotten in places. She sniffed as she walked, then stopped. That unmistakable smell of rotting wood. Poking at it very carefully, it began to crumble away in her hands. 'Always rotten in the corners', she muttered with a smile. She stepped back and one swift kick and part of the wall collapsed inward. There wasn't much room but people could crawl or crouch. They could get through.

Going back inside, she noted most of the cages were now unlocked and pretty much everyone was ready to leave. She pointed and then pushed, cajoled, and hurried all of them through the hole she had made.

"Follow me. Quickly!"

She had no idea where she was going, but she had about thirty to forty people in tow and none of them were trained for this. She let out a roar, loud and prolonged. Then she roared again. In the distance she heard a roar calling in reply, and then the most comforting sound possible, "pee-e-e-wit."